Bookmark This

On Sunday mornings, women gather at the Guru Nanak Sikh Temple in Woolgoolga, New South Wales, to pray and cook food for their community. They sing these devotional songs to bless the food they make. These songs came from the first langar (community kitchen of a place of worship) in India, which began in 1469.  

Tamer Tarik Taskaya grew up in Corum and Ankara, Turkey. He chose to migrate to Australia in 2010 to avoid military service in Turkey. Nikriz Peşrev is a classical Ottoman song, composed by Ali Ufkî in the 1600s, that Tamer has arranged to be played on the cello.

Iosefa, Tautala, Semi and Diane learnt the song Tele l'a ole Sami while growing up in Samoa. Their performance was recorded in Griffith, New South Wales. This popular Samoan song was composed in 1954 by Napoleon Tuiteleleapaga, Ray Evans and Jay Livingston.

Dr Salvatore Rossano is from the region of Apulia, Italy. He composed Tarantella Dell'emigrante on the accordion while completing his National Folk Fellowship on Italian folk music at the National Library of Australia. This song is inspired by the stories and traditions of migrants from Calabria, and is dedicated to those who have left their homelands for a better life. 

Newlyweds Radije and Eta Qereqeretabua relocated from Fiji to Australia in 1966 after Radike was awarded a scholarship to study librarianship. While living in Australia, they did live performances of traditional Fijian folk songs, such as Seni Mokosoi. 

Oscar Jimenez grew up in Barranquilla, Colombia. He migrated in 2000 for his tertiary education and continues to work in Australia as a musician. His original song, Isabela, was composed in 2004. It is dedicated to his family in Colombia, specifically his niece Isabela, and explores how distance can help us appreciate our roots.

Zuhir Naji is from Damascas, Syria. He ran a music school before leaving Syria with his family in 2013. The Naji family lived in Jordan for three years before coming to Australia as refugees. Thank you Australia is an original composition, played on the oud, that Naji has performed at Government House.

Kim Yang is from Taipei, Taiwan, and migrated to Australia in 2012. Bāng Chhun-hong (Spring Breeze) and Ú lā Hoe (Rainy Night Flower), performed by Yang, are love songs composed by Taiwanese Hakka musician Teng Yu-Hsien in the 1930s. Both were adapted into patriotic songs by the Japanese military during World War II. 

Ihor Kushnir was born in Adelaide to a Ukrainian father and Belarussian-Ukrainian mother. He plays and teaches the bandura, a Ukrainian string instrument. Dume is a traditional piece that Kushnir has arranged on the bandura for his band the Yellow Blue Bus.  

Christian Ramilo, nicknamed Bong, was born in Manilla, The Philippines. He wrote Hanap Ko in 1983 during the martial law period under President Ferdinand Marcos. Hanap Ko (What Am I Looking For) is about searching for strength to continue his activist work against the Marcos dictatorship.  Christian migrated to Australia in 1986 and was granted residence on humanitarian grounds.  

Fernando Aguanta grew up in Tupiza, Bolivia. He initially migrated to Australia in 1989, returning to Bolivia in 1995 before migrating again with his family in 2004. Fernando and his sons, Alejandro, Alfredo, Dio and Jay, play Bolivian folk music as a family band. The song Huari is an original composition.  

There are some powerful examples in Bold Types of women who were thrown under the bus by male colleagues and higher ups after a scandal. Others were micro-managed, scrutinised and bullied.  Host: Amy Remeikis.  Historian: Dr Patricia Clarke.  Guest: Ita Buttrose.   Further Reading/References  Articles by Jessie Couvreur: trove.nla.gov.au/collection/bold-types/newspapers/explore?l-pubtag=Jessie%20Couvreur  Articles by Flora Shaw: trove.nla.gov.au/collection/bold-types/newspapers/explore?l-pubtag=Flora%20Shaw  Flora Shaw, Letters from Queensland, London: Macmillan and Co, 1893, nla.gov.au/nla.cat-vn1894498  Flora Shaw, The Story of Australia, London: Horace Marshall, 1897, nla.gov.au/nla.cat-vn787299  Flora Shaw, A Tropical Dependency: An Outline of the Ancient History of the Western Soudan with an Account of the Modern Settlement of Northern Nigeria, London: J. Nisbet & Company, Limited, 1905, nla.gov.au/nla.cat-vn6849071  Portrait of Mrs. Jessie Catherine Couvreur, née Hybers (‘Tasma'), 1889, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-148362079  Tasma, Diaries of Jessie Couvreur (Tasma), manuscript, 1873, nla.gov.au/nla.cat-vn4502236  Tasma, Biographical Notes, manuscript, 1800s, nla.gov.au/nla.cat-vn2727051  Tasma, Uncle Piper of Piper's Hill: An Australian Novel, London: Trubner, 1889, nla.gov.au/nla.cat-vn811844  Tasma, A Sydney Sovereign and Other Tales, London: Trubner & Co, 1890, nla.gov.au/nla.cat-vn342662  Tasma, In Her Earliest Youth, London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner & Co, 1890, nla.gov.au/nla.cat-vn1131200  Tasma, The Penance of Portia James, [New York, N.Y.]: United States Book Co, 1891, nla.gov.au/nla.cat-vn936611  Tasma, A Knight of the White Feather, Leipzig: Heinemann and Balestier Limited, 1893, nla.gov.au/nla.cat-vn7294633  Tasma, Not Counting the Cost, London: Richard Bentley and Son, 1895, nla.gov.au/nla.cat-vn7294205   Papers of Patricia Clarke, 1887–2015, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-416757733/findingaid  Craig Mackenzie, Patricia Clarke at the National Library of Australia, 21 September 2012, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-132302347  Patricia Clarke Interviewed by David Walker in the Australia-Asia Studies Oral History Project, 2012, nla.gov.au/nla.cat-vn6102778  Patricia Clarke Interviewed by Ann Moyal, 2005, nla.gov.au/nla.cat-vn3356472 

What was the cost of straying from the company line versus the power of being an inside player?  Host: Amy Remeikis.  Historian: Dr Patricia Clarke. Guests: Zoe Daniel, Nas Campanella.  Further Reading/References  Articles by Alice Henry: trove.nla.gov.au/collection/bold-types/newspapers/explore?l-pubtag=Alice%20Henry   Articles by Jennie Scott Griffiths: trove.nla.gov.au/collection/bold-types/newspapers/explore?l-pubtag=Jennie%20Scott%20Griffiths  Articles by Flora Shaw: trove.nla.gov.au/collection/bold-types/newspapers/explore?l-pubtag=Flora%20Shaw   Nettie Palmer and Frances Fraser, Centenary Gift Book, Melbourne: Robertson & Mullens for The Women's Centenary Council (Vic.), 1934, nla.gov.au/nla.cat-vn2231931 (contribution by Alice Henry)     Papers of Alice Henry, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-327961248/findingaid  Alice Henry, The Trade Union Woman, New York: D. Appleton, 1915, nla.gov.au/nla.cat-vn2292219  Alice Henry and Nettie Palmer, Memoirs of Alice Henry, Melbourne: [N. Palmer], 1944, nla.gov.au/nla.cat-vn1622467  Alice Henry, Women and the Labor Movement, New York: G. Doran, 1923, nla.gov.au/nla.cat-vn81243  Papers of Jennie Scott Griffiths, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-252386038/findingaid  Flora Shaw, Letters from Queensland, London: Macmillan and Co, 1893, nla.gov.au/nla.cat-vn1894498  Flora Shaw, The Story of Australia, London: Horace Marshall, 1897, nla.gov.au/nla.cat-vn787299  Flora Shaw, A Tropical Dependency: An Outline of the Ancient History of the Western Soudan with an Account of the Modern Settlement of Northern Nigeria, London: J. Nisbet & Company, Limited, 1905, nla.gov.au/nla.cat-vn6849071 

Content warning: this episode contains descriptions of war casualties, rape and violence against women Right place, right time gave some enterprising women journalists a front row seat to report on momentous events for their readers back home in Australia. Host: Amy Remeikis. Historian: Dr Patricia Clarke. Guests: Avani Dias, Sophie McNeill.  Further Reading/References  Articles by Anna Blackwell: trove.nla.gov.au/collection/bold-types/newspapers/explore?l-pubtag=Anna%20Blackwell  Articles by Janet Mitchell: trove.nla.gov.au/collection/bold-types/newspapers/explore?l-pubtag=Janet%20Mitchell  ‘Continental Gossip', Sydney Morning Herald, 19 April 1888, p4, nla.gov.au/nla.news-article13683769  ‘Continental Gossip', Sydney Morning Herald, 17 May 1882, p9, nla.gov.au/nla.news-article13511422  ‘Continental Gossip', Sydney Morning Herald, 3 August 1883, p3, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article13540806  Government Bank Thrift Organiser Janet Mitchell, New South Wales, c.1930, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-160439900, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-160439618   Janet Mitchell, Spoils of Opportunity: An Autobiography, London: Methuen, 1938, nla.gov.au/nla.cat-vn2410449  Anna Blackwell, Poems, London: John Chapman, 1853, nla.gov.au/nla.cat-vn2063990   

Content warning: this episode contains mild coarse language. Some of the most successful of the Bold Types made their own road map and were deft at the pivot, while relentlessly sticking to their principles.  Host: Amy Remeikis.  Historian: Dr Patricia Clarke.  Guests: Zara Seidler, Suzanne Dredge.    References and Further Reading Articles by Jessie Couvreur trove.nla.gov.au/collection/bold-types/newspapers/explore?l-pubtag=Jessie%20Couvreur  Articles by Frances Taylor trove.nla.gov.au/collection/bold-types/newspapers/explore?l-pubtag=Bold%20Types&l-pubtag=Irene%20Frances%20Taylor&l-pubtag=Frances%20Taylor  Woman's world : an illustrated monthly for Australian women, nla.gov.au/nla.cat-vn2120036  Jessie ‘Tasma' Couvreur, ‘Autumn in Paris', The Australasian, 14 January 1882, p7, trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/138074789  ‘Tasma photographed in Turkish costume' wikipedia.org/wiki/Jessie_Catherine_Couvreur#/media/File:Tasma_photographed_in_Turkish_costume.jpg 

Content warning: this episode contains mild coarse language.   The “women's pages” were a blessing and a curse for opportunities.  The biggest irony was that the women writing this stuff were working mums whose lives were almost completely opposite to those of their readership.  Host: Amy Remeikis. Historian: Dr Patricia Clarke. Guest: Mia Freedman.   The Fijian folk music used in this episode is courtesy of the  David Fanshawe World Music Archive (1967 - 94) Song: Vakamalolo - Sitting Dance (Fiji) Discover more here: https://fanshawemusic.com/   Further Reading and References Articles by Stella Allan trove.nla.gov.au/collection/bold-types/newspapers/explore?l-pubtag=Stella%20Allan Articles by Jennie Scott-Griffiths  trove.nla.gov.au/collection/bold-types/newspapers/explore?l-pubtag=Jennie%20Scott%20Griffiths Jennie Scott-Griffiths, The Australian Woman's Weekly, 18 September 1915, p.13 Jennie Scott-Griffiths, ‘What Women Demand', The Australian Worker, 30 November 1916, p7 trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/145764010 Stella Allan, ‘Lyttelton Times engaged Dominion's first woman political reporter', Christchurch Stan-Sun, 16 October 1958, p2

Content warning: this episode contains descriptions of war casualties and sexual harassment. Edith Dickenson was a fearless adventure-seeker who covered the Boer War with clear-eyed empathy as Australia's first female war correspondent.  She also hunted boar from an elephant's back in India whilst wearing a crinoline skirt, with the kids in tow.  Patricia Karvelas appreciates that today's crop of successful women journalists stand on the shoulders of giants like Edith. Host: Amy Remeikis. Historian: Dr Patricia Clarke. Guest: Patricia Karvelas. More information:  Edith Dickenson trove.nla.gov.au/blog/2022/11/10/front-line Articles by Edith Dickenson trove.nla.gov.au/collection/bold-types/newspapers/explore?l-pubtag=Edith%20Dickenson Battle Horrors by Edith Dickenson  trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/36959477

The stories in Bold Types live up to the title's promise.  The lived experiences of Australia's gutsy, pioneering women journalists, with a series of amazing firsts, starting back in the 1860s.  Host Amy Remeikis chats with author and historian Patricia Clarke for a preview of what to expect across this season's six episodes.

Have you ever noticed how many of our most famous acclaimed exports come from Western Australia? Heath Ledger. Kate Mulvaney. Tim Minchin. This episode - three ‘Perthies' who've made it big in theatre, film and music talk to OFF STAGE about what's in the water across in the West of Australia and why they think it bats above its average in terms of artistic success. Marcus Graham tells the story of what made him leave WA. Genevieve Hegney talks about the incredible scene when she was starting out. Iain Grandage looks to the future of a thriving arts scene for Western Australian artists.   Links: National Library of Australia On Stage Exhibition   Guests: Marcus Graham - actor, director Genevieve Hegney - actor, voice over artist, playwright Iain Grandage - composer, Director of Perth Festival   Credits: Melanie Tait - writer, producer and presenter of Off Stage Kim Lester - technical producer and sound engineer of Off Stage

Martin Philbey began his photography career capturing every part of a crime scene. It was the beginning of a life in photography that would see him becoming so acclaimed he'd be hung in the National Portrait gallery of Australia as a rock photographer. How do you go from crime scene to rock scene? Martin talks about this and the music industry he's been a part of for the last thirty years.   Links: National Library of Australia On Stage Exhibition Martin Philbey Website Martin Philbey Instagram   Guests: Martin Philbey, Photographer   Credits: Melanie Tait - writer, producer and presenter of Off Stage Kim Lester - technical producer and sound engineer of Off Stage

In the late sixties, an engineering lecturer had a wild party at his home in suburban Melbourne. It was election night, and tensions were high. The lecturer had aspirations to be a playwright and what he saw going on around him, well, he reckoned it might make a good play. The aspiring playwright was David Williamson, and the party inspired Don's Party, one of Australia's first ever home grown blockbusters. Here, we chart the story from an AV Jennings stage in Bundoora to the many, many productions since.   Links: National Library of Australia On Stage Exhibition Papers of David Williamson at the National Library of Australia   Guests: David Williamson, Playwright   Credits: Melanie Tait - writer, producer and presenter of Off Stage Kim Lester - technical producer and sound engineer of Off Stage

Sir Robert Helpmann's legacy remains relatively strong in 2022: his face adorned the program of the NLA's On Stage exhibition and his name is immortalised in our biggest theatre awards, The Helpmann's. Yet, how many of us know much about his extraordinary life? A life that started on a farm in Mount Gambier and would go on to perform, direct, dance and choreograph in pretty much every major theatre in the world.   Links: National Library of Australia On Stage Exhibition Papers of Sir Robert Helpmann at the National Library of Australia   Guests: John Senczuk, Theatre Historian and Sir Robert's Dresser   Credits: Melanie Tait - writer, producer and presenter of Off Stage Kim Lester - technical producer and sound engineer of Off Stage

By the time we're in our mid-forties, most of us feel as though our life is pretty much sorted out. Not Rose Quong. After twenty-seven years, she left her public service job in Melbourne to pursue life as an actress in London. She continued to chase adventure for all the years of her life afterwards.   Links: National Library of Australia On Stage Exhibition Papers of Rose Quong at the National Library of Australia   Guests: Professor Angela Woollacott, Manning Clark Professor of History at the Australian National University, author of Race and The Modern Exotic (2011)   Credits: Melanie Tait - writer, producer and presenter of Off Stage Kim Lester - technical producer and sound engineer of Off Stage

Throughout the late 1800s and a lot of the 1900s, there was one name on most of the posters of shows that made it big in Australia: JC Williamson. JC Williamson Ltd was one of the biggest production companies of our history, and it was started by a man called James Cassius Williamson. This episode looks at the life and legacy of JC Williamson's, and one of the biggest touring stars they brought to Australia - ballerina Anna Pavlova. And yes, we can't talk Pavlova without getting deep into meringue choices and whipped cream.   Links: National Library of Australia On Stage Exhibition JC Williamson Collection at the National Library of Australia Anna Pavlova's Tours at the National Library of Australia   Guests: Dr Robert Reid, Theatre Historian Annabelle Utrecht, Meringetrix and Food Researcher   Credits: Melanie Tait - writer, producer and presenter of Off Stage Kim Lester - technical producer and sound engineer of Off Stage

In 1796, the theatre was the place to be. In the growing colony Sydney, people would pack into the theatre to see ex-convicts perform the latest popular plays for them. The NLA's exhibition On Stage has an exquisite treasure from this time: a playbill once belonging to the Lieutenant-Governor of NSW, Philip Gidley King. On our first episode of Off Stage, host Melanie Tait takes you inside the theatre to meet the characters involved the production of Jane Shore, remembered forever through this precious playbill. Links: National Library of Australia On Stage Exhibition The 1796 Playbill The Playbill and its People: Australia's earliest printed document by Gillian Russell The Collected Plays of Jim McNeil Oral history of Jim McNeil   Guests: David Marr, journalist Gillian Russell, Professor of Eighteenth-Century Literature and author of The Playbill and its People   Credits: Melanie Tait - writer, producer and presenter of Off Stage Kim Lester - technical producer and sound engineer of Off Stage